Hey guys! I love cooking, and I have been wanting to start cooking more Irish meals. I know some of the most famous ones like cornbeef and cabbage, shepherds pie, Irish stew, etc… But I really want to get to know more of the recipes. I have been looking for a good cookbook for quite some time now, but everytime I go to the bookstore, the only thing in the “I” section is either Italian or Indian. No Irish!! . I am also weary about buying a book that I haven’t looked through. I like to look at the recipes, and I can usually judge if they are generic or something fantastic. So, I am starting to look around the internet for some good books, but I just don’t know which ones to get since I can’t look through them like I can in a bookstore.
I am asking help for any cookers out there who know of or love a great Irish cookbook. I would love something that has great traditional meals, a handful of fancy ones, and a generous amount of desserts . Any suggestions or tips would be great, and maybe a link to the site if you have any. Thanks!
Full and Plenty The Irish Heritage Cookbook The Ballymaloe Cookbook Betty O’crocker’s Irish Cookery Book Good Food From Ireland Poolbeg Book of Traditional Irish Cooking Joy o’ Cookin’ Malachi McCormick’s Irish Country Cooking Irish Cookery for Dummies Better Homes and Gardens Irish Cookery Book McGuire’s Irish Pub Cookbook The Country Cooking of Ireland Modern and Traditional Irish Cooking
How can you have a good Irish cookbook without good Irish cooking? The best Irish food that I’ve had I purchased from a falafel cafe in Dublin. My wife was critical. She said, “You mean you’ve brought me all the way to Ireland only to have dinner in a falafel cafe?” And on our honeymoon, no less.
Did you stay at any decent B&Bs? I love the Irish fried breakfast. Eggs, tomatoes, brown soda bread, white pudding (I can leave the black pudding, thanks), potatoes, ham, bacon. . . About the only thing that could make it better would be hash.
I got a got a small but useful cookbook there called “The little Irish cookbook.” I’ve tried several recipes from it, but the only ones I use regularly are soda bread and colcannon, which I’ve modified to the point that it’s almost unrecognizable (greens instead of cabbage, and much bacon).
It’s hard to tell about all of them, but I’m willing to bet that Walden made them up. He has a very dry sense of humor, and it helps to be familiar with it.
“Joy o’ Cookin’” and “Betty O’Crocker’s Irish Cookery Book” are sure giveaways.
“Good Food From Ireland” is a likely candidate, too, and if it’s a chain-puller it’s a wicked one.
Thanks for that list Davy, I appreciate it. I did think there was something fishy with that Betty O’Crockers book and some others. I just thought that some of them had weird senses of humor.
. I am also weary about buying a book that I haven’t looked through. I like to look at the recipes, and I can usually judge if they are generic or something fantastic. So, I am starting to look around the internet for some good books, but I just don’t know which ones to get since I can’t look through them like I can in a bookstore.
. Any suggestions or tips would be great, and maybe a link to the site if you have any. Thanks! 
Full and Plenty
I did think there was something fishy with that Betty O’Crockers book and some others. I just thought that some of them had weird senses of humor.